News, notes and reader questions about the San Francisco 49ers

July 28, 2013

Jim Harbaugh today said he hoped Tarell Brown and the 49ers could find a "solution" to the salary snafu that cost the 49ers' starting cornerback $2 million this season.

"He deserves it. He's earned it," Harbaugh said. "I don't want to see him playing for the minimum when he's a starting, top-end player."

Brown's 2013 base salary dropped from $2.95 million to $925,000 this season because he did not earn an escalator that required him to work out in Santa Clara. Instead, Brown, 28, spent the voluntary portions of the 49ers' offseason program near his home in Texas. Brown said he fired his agent because of the oversight. The cornerback attended a mandatory minicamp in June and appears to be in excellent shape to begin training camp.

Brown has been a two-year starter for the 49ers and is entering the final year of his contract. Asked if a solution might involve extending Brown's deal, Harbaugh didn't rule it out as a possibility. "I don't know that it's any one particular thing but I think we'll explore all those options and find a solution," he said. "It's there. ...We're very motivated to do that."

He said that like Brown's agent, the 49ers were unaware that Brown would lose the money. Said Harbaugh: "I just think it was an unfortunate situation. I feel confident knowing that the people involved - had they known anything, then they would have brought that to attention. ... Unfortunately, nobody caught it. That led to a real torpedo that nobody wanted to see happen."

MATTHEW BARROWS

Matt was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green.